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Aware that the time on his spell was slipping away, he almost cast telepathy, but then decided against it. He was almost out of channeling, and wanted to make sure he could unseal the basement if need be. After a brief moment of focus told him he still had about a half-hour on his Meld with Material spell, he pulled himself up into the church until he was standing, but being careful to remain hidden. As he rose from the ground, he changed his form and skin into a complete matte black, increasing his size so that he appeared well over double his normal body size in all dimensions.

He addressed the shape, having lengthened his vocal cords as well, causing his voice to rumble deeply as he spoke.

Aurea kept dashing around, bestowing upon her victims no more than few seconds of her precious time before landing a finishing blow and moving on. She was a very fastidious partner in dance, and it seemed like no werebeast could match her tempo and rhythm. After all, she was also the conductor dictating those, and her sword was the leading instrument. The knight herself was somewhat rapt with the spectacle. It was with no doubt a familiar sensation, all of this. The sound, the smell, tension of bodies and clash of strengths. I was so familiar, that almost pleasant. Like experiencing an odd, twisted version of nostalgia. There were missing pieces in this puzzle however, and it didn't take long for the undead to start figuring what it could be...

With one fluent swing, she had slit the throat of yet another beast in front of her, and using the remaining momentum pirouetted around quickly adjusting her footwork, and slashed at torso of the beast that attempted to attack her rear side, ripping it wide open. That was also the moment the bats have launched their attack. While she only winced and slightly wobbled at the screech, numbing the feeling within, the others were less resistant to the effect, and were not expecting it. "Have your archers finally get rid of these things!" The knight took off her helmet for a moment and yelled across the battlefield, hoping her booming voice would reach the captain, or anyone else capable. It would most likely do so, as her usual soft speaking voice could easily become a roar tearing even through the loudest turmoil of the battle. A useful ability for someone in command, no doubt. "Get them down, protect them with your men! Take away from the line if you have to!" Not expecting any response, she put her helmet back on, and turned around, gaze sweeping across the bodies of lycanthrope around her, ready to pile them up even higher.

I should probably try and find something interesting to put in here...

Rhea's arrows hit their marks as she grabbed her bag. The rest of the archers moved in to continue the attack but the lycans threw themselves through the hole where Nocturn had punched through. The archers attempted pursuit but decided not to at the last second instead going back to the mayor's side.

"Are you okay, sir?" One of the archers ask as they heaved the old man onto a sofa chair.

"Where is Nocturn?" the mayor quickly asks. "The boy saved my life, where is he?"

"He wasn't there, mayor." Another replied.

"Then he must be fleeing," the mayor coughed. "May Amadea see him through."

Meanwhile, outside of the townhall, Aurea kept her assault on the lycans. Her orders were heard by Sir Dreimon amidst the chaos of steel and claw. With a resounding command of his own, he called the attention of the archers and militia to focus their attention on the skyward threat.

"Quickly!" He ordered. "Thornfell will not fall to these wretches!"

The militia did what they could as they made a barrier between the lycans and the remaining archers while Fedimian soldiers did most of the work.

Before anything else however, the massive wereboar had appeared once again. This time, he had a corpse in tow. It was the mad knight; killed and mutilated. Aurea took note of the beast as it bellowed into the night sky. The rest of the lycans responded with their own animalistic sound and began to retreat. The bats immediately dropped whoever they had on hand and left he scene while the wolves broke off from combat and ran off. A few stray arrows shot down some of the lycans but Sir Dreimon ordered a ceasefire.

"Hold!" He yelled, raising a fist. "They're retreating."

The wereboar took one look at the city before finally charging back into the forest.

The fedimian captain was confused though and looked to Aurea, searching her face if she too was confused but before he could bring it up, another thing that was more urgent than the odd retreat was the wounded. "Gather the wounded! Tend to their wounds! We've still got moonlight shining on us, hurry!"

The militia and soldiers did as they were told. The night was silent once more.

[Church of Petrania]

The shadow didn't reply, except it continued to whimper in its corner. Even under the faint glow of the church's machinery, the druid could only make that it was for sure, human; a female with disheveled long hair. She kept her face dug in her palms as she scooted into the corner.

Visage let himself drift into silence. He didn't like this situation at all. This was, in his mind, most likely NOT a girl. He had seen the paranormal before -- one does not live in magical rural forests without strange things happening. He had half a mind to shoot her in the back with a silver arrow and then see what the healer could do if she turned out to be normal. That said, IF she did turn out to be normal, that wouldn't exactly be the way he would go about getting her to trust him.

There was simply no good option here -- if she was a girl, he had no secure option that wouldn't risk her. If she wasn't a normal girl, he had no option that wouldn't risk his own life. If he tried to save both her life and his, the only route would potentially endanger the party. A distasteful snarl flicked at the corners of his mouth before he returned to his normal form...mostly. He removed his scars; warmed his skin tone and hair to a fair flesh color and platinum blonde, respectively; and gave normal color to his eyes.

He moved silently, approaching the girl swiftly on his soft, textured leather boots. His actions were smooth, but quick as he swept her up into a hug from behind. Though it was friendly, one arm snaked loosely around her neck while the other went around her arms. His initial touch was gentle, but his muscles shivered with the tension necessary to tighten at a moment's notice if things got bad....and his focus was ready to meld back through the floor if things became really bad.

Simultaneously, though -- before she could even react -- he spoke. His voice, however, was soft, and now his natural tone...nothing like the shifted sounds of his previous form. Not just soft, but the kind of warm cushioned feeling that fills the soul of a child as the embrace their favorite teddy bear, and are in turn embraced by a loving parent before they drift into contented slumber.

The wolf that had turned its back to her, has been impaled as soon as he did so, and over his collapsing body Aurea could observe what made the beast commit such a foolish move. The pack leader that she had hoped died, came back. With him, he had the body of the mad knight. Dead. At first the knight just grit her teeth at that fact alone, before deeper thought of what it meant, as the beasts began their retreat taking that one body with them. She had a wild urge to chase after, continue the bloodshed, see where they came from and remove the problem at its root. She remained put however, lowering her sword and removing her helmet observing the fall back with a frown.

"We haven't pushed them back...They've got what they came for..." She murmured. Despite the sheer numbers of lycanthrope bodies just around her, she showed not a smallest sign of exhaustion. No panting, no trembling of muscle. Not even a drop of sweat had appeared on her face, that should've at least reddened a little from effort. Nothing. The only clue telling that she even fought right now, was her armor, repainted with crimson.

The knight turned around, first grabbing her blade at the rain guard, then slowly moving her hand all the way to the point, removing most of the blood. She then grabbed it by the middle with one hand as she usually did, and marched in direction of town hall. However, noticing another building, she altered her path. Aurea had plenty of things requiring her attention, some more important than he others. For now however, she was heading to Lera's hideout to check on her.

Last edited by MrSkully; 12-02-2017 at 10:03 AM.

I should probably try and find something interesting to put in here...

Rhea went to retrieve her wooden arrows, which were still mostly undamaged except for the slight dulling on the tip from penetrating flesh and bone. Afterwards there was a bit of commotion outside, so Rhea left the others inside as she made her way out just in time to see their enemies retreating.

It took just a moment to scan the scene and piece together who was missing. Typical. The archer fell into step behind Aurea with her bag slung over her back while still wielding her bow and a few arrows in her hands. She scoffed when she saw Rabbit and Lera, "the fights over, just so you two know."

SPAC: Genesis
"Everything I've done up until now... it was all for nothing."

Seeing the archer so calm and nonchalant, her arrows held so carelessly in her hands, confused Lera. Wasn't she supposed to be up high, hailing down arrows upon the beasts? She could come up with one reason. So the young woman, pulling Rabbit by his uninjured arm, headed outside the building to see the battle resolved.

No more beasts. No more bats.

And hearing, slowly returning. She couldn't hear what Rhea was saying, but a scenery is worth a thousand words.

The girl shook at the man's approach and tried to press herself into the wall further. When Visage actually made contact with the girl, she screamed.

"Let me go!" She screeched as she tried to push the man away. Visage could feel that she was cold, her shaking could have been because it was she was shivering not just from fear. Then the girl tried to pry the changeling's arms from her neck, she didn't feel at all safe, screaming and pushing. All that noise however, was bound to attract something and it did.

The sound of leaves rustling came from the front door and footsteps from the back of the church itself. Something had found her and by extent, maybe had found them.

With the corner of her eye, Aurea noticed the approaching ranger and turned her head towards her, slowing her step a little if the woman wished to join her. Rhea lived to Aurea's first impression so far, coming out unscathed, as if she haven't even fought. Bloodied arrows in her hand were telling otherwise however. The knight gave her a faint smile. "Glad to see I haven't been mistaken..."

As they approached the building, founding Lera and Rabbit, she shrugged at Rhea's comment. "Don't say it like they've been cowering here the whole time, they did good. Out there on the front line...You were busy elsewhere, as I can see... Have you got your bearings back together?...And..." Aurea first faced the merchant, then the historian, whom arm was on a sling. "...What happened to you?" He was fine when she saw him falling back.

Last edited by MrSkully; 12-02-2017 at 08:23 PM.

I should probably try and find something interesting to put in here...

At the sound of something coming, Visage decided not to risk it. He cast Meld with Material on the girl this time, using up almost all of his remaining channeling.

"I hate to scare you, daughter, but this is not the place or time for us to go about this leisurely..."

Swiftly he drug her back down through the floor with him, falling on his back into the basement below. He grunted from the fall, and called out to the others. "I found a girl upstairs. Have no clue if she's infected or not, but she's terribly scared. Also....we've got company up there. And I don't think they came for the coffee, if you know what I mean. Esther, you're probably going to be the most comforting person here..."

With that unspoken request, he released the girl from his grip, half-tossing her towards the priestess. With that done, he stood, contemplating sticking his head up through the floor again. His lack of darkvision annoyed him, and he contemplated wild-shaping...but decided to wait until that girl was comforted before traumatizing her with more strange magic.